User programmable switch

ABSTRACT

The various methods and devices described herein relate to devices which, in at least certain embodiments, may include at least one mechanical switch for user to select a user profile interface setting and at least one processor for causing the device to respond to the mechanical switch. The mechanical switch may be dedicated for the purpose of switching profiles and may allow for a selection of a plurality of profiles. Further, in conjunction with an optional shift key, the user may select preferences programmed within a profile.

This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/620,659, filed on Jan. 6, 2007.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the field of portable devices and, inparticular, to systems and methods for switching or determining userpreferences or profiles in settings related to operation of the portabledevices and user activities.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Portable devices, such as cell phones, personal digital assistants(PDAs) and in general, devices with wireless communication capabilitiesare becoming increasingly common. These portable devices have grown morecomplex over time, incorporating many features including, for example,MP3 player capabilities, photographing capabilities, web browsingcapabilities, email capabilities, text messaging capabilities and thelike.

The user of these portable devices, such as a cell phone incorporatingweb browsing, photograph taking, MP3 player, email and text messagingcapabilities, range from teenagers to professionals. Often each user hashis/her particular preferences in how the cell phone or PDA is set up.The set up may include display brightness, ring tone, ring volume, emailnotification, text notification, background display image, call forward,call volume, Bluetooth headset setup etc. For example, a teenager mayprefer to have multiple set ups for different settings such as inschool, at home, or at a party.

The teenager may prefer to have a unique music clip as ring tone, lowvolume, high power savings, and provocative background display while inschool and amongst friends. However, the same person may prefer atraditional ring tone, low volume, moderate power savings (for playinggames or playing music from MP3 player and a less distinct backgrounddisplay while at home. Similarly, the same person may want to have asilent ring tone and volume but using only vibration mode while keepingthe same provocative background while in the library.

Typically, changing profile settings often require the user to makechanges through the various menus in the user interface using the keypadwhen the phone is activated. For users who lead busy lives, such asprofessionals, who frequently transitions among different environments,like from a personal office into a meeting and into a public space, thismethod of changing profile settings becomes inconvenient. Users areoften multi-tasking. Sometimes they simply do not even have minutes oreven seconds to fidget with their phones to change profile settingssuitable to the new environment or circumstances.

Consequent of the dynamic and fast paced lifestyle of users, a moreconvenient and less burdensome manner of changing user profile settingthat can complement and keep up with the fast pace lifestyles is needed.There is a demand for a direct and simple manner in changing userprofile on the fly without having to use the keypad and menus in theuser interface.

SUMMARY OF THE DESCRIPTION

The various methods and devices described herein relate to deviceswhich, in at least certain embodiments, may include at least onemechanical switch for users to select a user profile interface settingand at least one processor for causing the device to respond to themechanical switch. The mechanical switch may be dedicated for thepurpose of selecting a profile among a plurality of profiles. In otherwords, actuation of the switch may immediately and directly lead to achange in the user profile without the use of the menus and keypads inthe user interface.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method to changea user profile interface setting includes: receiving an actuation of adedicated mechanical switch with at least two switch positions on aportable data processing device to toggle between at least twoprogrammable, mirrored user interface profile settings, receiving anelectrical output corresponding to the actuation of the mechanicalswitch to each of the at least two switch positions, controlling aselection of parameters in the at least two programmable, mirrored userinterface profile settings of the portable data processing device, anddetermining and selecting a preference in the at least two programmable,mirrored user interface profile settings.

The portable data processing device may be a telephone, such as a cellphone, or an integrated telephone and media player, or other types ofdevices such as a PDA that transmits and receives information as a meansof communication. This device includes numerous user profiles. In oneembodiment, all profiles may include a plurality of mirrored fields.However each field may have the same or different values acrossdifferent profiles. Each field or setting has multiple different valuesor options. Each field controls an aspect of the interface forcommunication and each value or option indicates a different selectionwithin the interface. The device includes a processing logic to processthe interrupt request from the actuation of the mechanical switch tochange profiles.

The switch may be any one of a variety of mechanical switches including,but not limited to, a typical linear sliding mechanical switch with twoor more positions, a rotary switch where rotation of various differentangles result in different switch positions, and a simple toggle switch.The switches are generally digital switches where each toggled positionrepresents a logic state, however, an analog switch utilizing apotentiometer to change voltage may also be possible. For example, alinear sliding switch can have two or more positions wherein eachposition represents a profile setting. Similarly each position in arotary switch and simple toggle switch can be a unique profile setting.In general, the mechanical switch is dedicated only to the changing ofprofile settings and each actuation of the mechanical switch may resultin a change of the profile. In other words, there is an effect on theprofile settings from each operation or actuation of the mechanicalswitch.

In certain embodiments, the device may include an optional shift key.The actuation or operation of the optional shift key by itself has noeffect, but when simultaneously actuated and operated with the dedicatedmechanical switch, a different output results compared to the actuationor operation of the mechanical switch by itself. For instance, threeprofiles are controlled by the operation of the mechanical switch, andeach profile may have two sets of preferences. While the mechanicalswitch controls the toggling among different profiles, simultaneousoperation of the optional optional shift key can allow toggling betweenthe two preferences within each profile.

Various devices which perform one or more of the foregoing methods andmachine readable media which, when executed by a processing system,cause the processing system to perform these methods, are alsodescribed. Other methods, devices and machine readable media are alsodescribed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is described by way of example with reference to theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a portable device in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a portable device in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invent on;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a portable device in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a portable device in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5A is a perspective view of a portable device in a firstconfiguration (e.g. in an open configuration) in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5B is a perspective view of the portable device of FIG. 4A in asecond configuration (e.g. a closed configuration) in accordance withone embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a system in which embodiments of thepresent invention can be implemented;

FIGS. 7A-C are examples of mechanical switches that can be implementedin a portable device in accordance with different embodiments of thepresent invention;

FIGS. 8A-C are perspective views of exemplary mechanical switches thatcan be implemented in a portable device in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 9A-G are views of the different menus on a display of a portabledevice when programming different settings in a profile, in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 10A-C are views of different profiles on a display of a portabledevice in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 11A-C a are views of displays with different iconicrepresentations of profiles selected for a portable device in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a flow chart of a method in programming settings in apreference of a profile in a portable device in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a flow chart of a method in changing profile and/orpreference within a profile in a portable device using a mechanicalswitch in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a digital processing system in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments and aspects of the inventions will be described withreference to details discussed below, and the accompanying drawings willillustrate the various embodiments. The following description anddrawings are illustrative of the invention and are not to be construedas limiting the invention. Numerous specific details are described toprovide a through understanding of various embodiments of the presentinvention. However, in certain instances, well-known or conventionaldetails are not described in order to provide a concise discussion ofembodiments of the present inventions.

Some portions of the detailed descriptions which follow are presented interms of algorithms which include operations on data stored within acomputer memory. An algorithm is generally a self-consistent sequence ofoperations leading to a desired result. The operations typically requireor involve physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually,though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical ormagnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined,compared, and otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at times,principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals asbits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or thelike.

It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar termsare to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and aremerely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unlessspecifically stated otherwise as apparent from the following discussion,it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizingterms such as “processing” or “computing” or “calculating” or“determining” or “displaying” or the like, can refer to the action andprocesses of a data processing system, or similar electronic device,that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical(electronic) quantities within the system's registers and memories intoother data similarly represented as physical quantities within thesystem's memories or registers or other such information storage,transmission or display devices.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for performing one or moreof the operations described herein. This apparatus may be speciallyconstructed for the required purposes, or it may comprise a generalpurpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by a computerprogram stored in the computer. Such a computer program may be stored ina machine (e.g. computer) readable storage medium, such as, but is notlimited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks,CD-ROMs, and magnetic-optical disks, read-only memories (ROMs), randomaccess memories (RAMs), erasable programmable ROMs (EPROMs),electrically erasable programmable ROMs (EEPROMs), magnetic or opticalcards, or any type of media suitable for storing electronicinstructions, and each coupled to a bus.

A machine-readable medium includes any mechanism for storing ortransmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., acomputer). For example, a machine-readable medium includes read onlymemory (“ROM”); random access memory (“RAM”); magnetic disk storagemedia; optical storage media; flash memory devices; electrical, optical,acoustical or other form of propagated signals (e.g., carrier waves,infrared signals, digital signals, etc.); etc.

At least certain embodiments of the present inventions include one ormore mechanical switches for users to change user profile interfacecommunication settings. At least certain embodiments of the presentinvention calls for a dedicated switch where actuation of the switcheffects directly in the changing of one user profile to a differentprofile or from one preference within a profile to a differentpreference within the same profile. At least certain embodiments of thepresent invention include an optional optional shift key usedsimultaneously with the actuation of the mechanical switch to providemore change options.

At least certain embodiments of the present inventions include one ormore sensors to monitor user activity. At least certain embodiments ofthe present inventions also include automatically changing a state ofthe portable device based on user activity, such as, for example,automatically activating or deactivating a backlight of a display deviceof the portable device or setting an input device of the portable deviceto a particular state, based on certain predetermined user activities.Examples of such sensors and data processing devices containing suchsensors can be found in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/586,862,which is incorporated herein by reference.

At least certain embodiments of the inventions may be part of a digitalmedia player, such as a portable music and/or video media player, whichmay include a media processing system to present the media, a storagedevice to store the media and may further include a radio frequency (RF)transceiver (e.g., an RF transceiver for a cellular telephone) coupledwith an antenna system and the media processing system. In certainembodiments, media stored on a remote storage device may be transmittedto the media player through the RF transceiver. The media may be, forexample, one or more of music or other audio, still pictures, or motionpictures.

The portable media player may include a media selection device, such asa click wheel input device on an iPod® or iPod Nano® media player fromApple Computer, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., a touch screen input device,pushbutton device, movable pointing input device or other input device.The media selection device may be used to select the media stored on thestorage device and/or the remote storage device. The portable mediaplayer may, in at least certain embodiments, include a display devicewhich is coupled to the media processing system to display titles orother indicators of media being selected through the input device andbeing presented, either through a speaker or earphone(s), or on thedisplay device, or on both display device and a speaker or earphone(s).Examples of a portable media player are described in published U.S.patent application numbers 2003/0095096 and 2004/0224638, both of whichare incorporated herein by reference.

Embodiments of the inventions described herein may be part of othertypes of data processing systems, such as, for example, entertainmentsystems or personal digital assistants (PDAs), or general purposecomputer systems, or special purpose computer systems, or an embeddeddevice within another device, or cellular telephones which do notinclude media players, or devices which combine aspects or functions ofthese devices (e.g., a media player, such as an iPod®, combined with aPDA, an entertainment system, and a cellular telephone in one portabledevice).

Embodiments of the inventions described herein may also include avariety of sensors. For example, proximity sensors may generate locationor movement data or both, by detecting the direction, speed, andorientation (e.g., roll, pitch, yaw) etc. of objects relative to theportable device. Accelerometers may detect acceleration or decelerationof the portable device. They generate movement data for multipledimensions to determine direction of movement of the portable device.

Embodiments of the invention described herein may also include amechanical switch dedicated to changing of the profile of the interfacecommunication settings. Portable devices have an interface and means forcommunication or obtaining attention of the user. The settings for suchinterface and communication to the user can be collectively groupedtogether as a profile. Thus, each actuation of the mechanical switcheffects an electrical or logic output which in turn instructs theprocessor coupled to the switch to change profiles of the user interfacecommunication settings predetermined in each of the profiles.

FIG. 1 illustrates a portable device 130 according to one embodiment ofthe invention. FIG. 1 shows a wireless device in a telephoneconfiguration having a “candy-bar” style. In FIG. 1, the wireless device130 may include a housing 132, a display device 134, an input device 136which may be an alphanumeric keypad, a speaker 138, a microphone 140 andan antenna 142. The wireless device 30 also may include a proximitysensor 144 and an accelerometer 146. It will be appreciated that theembodiment of FIG. 1 may use more or fewer sensors and may have adifferent form factor from the form factor shown in FIG. 1.

The display device 134 is shown positioned at an upper portion of thehousing 132, and the input device 136 is shown positioned at a lowerportion of the housing 132. The antenna 142 is shown extending from thehousing 132 at an upper portion of the housing 132. The speaker 138 isalso shown at an upper portion of the housing 132 above the displaydevice 134. The microphone 140 is shown at a lower portion of thehousing 132, below the input device 136. It will be appreciated that thespeaker 38 and microphone 140 can be positioned at any location on thehousing, but are typically positioned in accordance with a user's earand mouth, respectively, 132. It will be appreciated that the particularlocations of the above-described features may vary in alternativeembodiments.

The display device 134 may be, for example, a liquid crystal display(LCD) which does not include the ability to accept inputs or a touchinput screen which also includes an LCD. The input device 136 mayinclude, for example, buttons, switches, dials, sliders, keys or keypad,navigation pad, touch pad, touch screen, and the like. Any well-knownspeaker, microphone and antenna can be used for speaker 138, microphone140 and antenna 142, respectively.

In one embodiment, the mechanical switch 148 may be located on the sideof the portable device or the top of the portable device. Similarly anoptional shift key or button 150 may be located on the side or top ofthe portable device. Actuation of the optional shift key 150 by itselfdoes not cause any effect, and is only effective when pressedsimultaneously during the actuation of another key or switch, such asthe mechanical switch 148. In other embodiments, location of themechanical switch 148 and the optional shift key 150 does not have to beon the side or top of the device, but may only be easily accessible whenthe device is stored in a pocket. In these embodiments, convenience ofactuating the mechanical switch 148 and the optional optional shift key150 is essential so that a single hand may actuate both concurrently. Itshould be noted that although a linear sliding switch is illustrated,other forms may include, but not limited to, a rotary switch, a rockerswitch, a toggle switch and a tactile switch etc. may also be used.Similarly, the optional shift key can take on different forms such as apush button or a slider etc.

FIG. 2 illustrates a portable device 200 according to one embodiment ofthe invention. FIG. 2 shows a wireless device in a telephoneconfiguration having a “slider” style. In FIG. 2, the wireless device200 may include a slideable cover 202 that may include a display device207 over a casing 201. There may be a speaker 203 included on the cover202 and a microphone 206 on the casing 201 and/or on the cover 202. Theinput device may comprise an alphanumeric keypad 205 disposed on thehousing 201 and buttons 204 on the cover 202. An antenna (not shown) ispresent but often not visible because it is disposed inside the casing.It will be appreciated that the locations of the features and number ofthe features may vary and the embodiment of FIG. 2 may have a differentform factor from the form factor shown in FIG. 2.

The cover 202 may sometimes be a part of the casing, but often, at leasta portion of the input device, generally a key pad, is hidden by thecover. Activation of the phone involves either actuation of buttons,dials, sliders, keys, touch screen, or touch pad on the cover or thesliding action of the cover to expose the input device hidden fromsight. The speaker is generally located on the upper portion of thedevice while the microphone is located on the lower portion of thedevice. There is generally at least some keys or buttons 204 on thecover 202 near the display device 207.

In one embodiment, the mechanical switch may be positioned on the top ofthe sliding cover 202 or the top of the case 201 where accidentalactuation of the switch based on handling of the device is minimized.The optional shift key 208 may be positioned on the side of the deviceat 90 degrees away from the mechanical switch. In this embodiment,actuation of both the mechanical switch and the optional shift key canbe easily performed using one hand. In other embodiments, thepositioning of either or both the mechanical switch and the optionalshift key 208 can be arbitrarily placed on the exterior surface of theportable device with the only objective being easy access when thedevice is in a pocket or purse as well as ease of use such as a singlehand or a one or two finger operation. Although a linear sliding switchis illustrated, other forms of switches such as a rotary switch, rockerswitch, toggle switch and tactile switch etc. may also be used.Similarly, the optional shift key can take on other forms such as a pushbutton or a slider etc.

FIG. 3 illustrates a portable device 300 according to one embodiment ofthe invention. FIG. 3 shows a wireless device in a telephoneconfiguration having a “lipstick” style. In FIG. 2, the wireless device300 may include a casing 301 on which a display device 303, an inputdevice 305, a microphone 304 and a speaker 302 are disposed. Thisembodiment is unique from embodiments in that it is shaped like arectangular or circular cylinder, and does not contain an alphanumerickeypad as its data input device. Keys, buttons, dials, sliders, andtouchpad etc. forms the input device. The casing generally is in onepiece and does not slide to expose any input elements like the “slider”style. However, the casing may slide minimally to expose a camera lensfor the purpose of taking a photograph, if such a feature is available.Similar to previous embodiments, the antenna (not shown) may be visibleor concealed within the casing for aesthetic purposes. It will beappreciated that the embodiment of FIG. 3 may have a different formfactor from the form factor shown in FIG. 3.

In one embodiment, the mechanical switch 306 is positioned on top of thecasing 301 with the optional shift key 307 on the side 90 degrees away.Similar to the positioning in FIG. 2, this configuration of themechanical switch and the optional optional shift key may provideconvenience and allow easy access in operation. In a device that issmall like the illustrated embodiment in FIG. 3, besides ease of accessand operation, another consideration for the positioning andconfiguration of the mechanical switch and the optional shift key is theavailable space on the exterior surface of the device. Such limitationmay be as much a factor in determination of the positioning and locationof the switch as are the aforementioned human factors. In otherembodiments, the mechanical switch may take on forms such as a rotaryswitch, a rocker switch, a toggle switch and a tactile switch etc.Similarly, the optional shift key can take on other forms including, butnot limited to, a push button or a slider etc.

FIG. 4 shows a portable device 450 in accordance with one embodiment ofthe invention. The portable device 450 may include a housing 452, adisplay/input device 454, a speaker 456, a microphone 458 and anoptional antenna 460 (which may be visible on the exterior of thehousing or may be concealed within the housing). The portable device 450may be a cellular telephone or a device which is an integrated PDA and acellular telephone or a device which is an integrated media player and acellular telephone or a device which is both an entertainment system(e.g. for playing games) and a cellular telephone, or the portabledevice 450 may be other types of devices described herein. In oneparticular embodiment, the portable device 450 may include a cellulartelephone and a media player and a PDA, all contained within the housing452. The portable device 450 may have a form factor which is smallenough that it fits within the hand of a normal adult and is lightenough that it can be carried in one hand by an adult. It will beappreciated that the term “portable” means the device can be easily heldin an adult user's hands (one or both); for example, a laptop computerand an iPod are portable devices.

In one embodiment, the display/input device 454 may include amulti-point touch input screen in addition to being a display, such asan LCD. In one embodiment, the multi-point touch screen is a capacitivesensing medium configured to detect multiple touches (e.g., blobs on thedisplay from a user's face or multiple fingers concurrently touching ornearly touching the display) or near touches (e.g., blobs on thedisplay) that occur at the same time and at distinct locations in theplane of the touch panel and to produce distinct signals representativeof the location of the touches on the plane of the touch panel for eachof the multiple touches. Additional information about multi-point inputtouch screens can be found in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/840,862, filed May 6, 2004 (see published U.S. patent application20060097991), which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.A multi-point input touch screen may also be referred to as amulti-touch input panel.

In one embodiment, the mechanical switch (not shown) and the optionalshift key (not shown) are positioned on the top of the housing. Inanother embodiment, the optional shift key may be on the side of thecasing 452 while the mechanical switch is on the top of the housing.Similarly, placement of both the mechanical switch and the optionalshift key is most often determined by human factors such asaccessibility when the device is hidden (in a shirt pocket or pantpocket or in a purse), ease of operation (by one hand or two or lessfingers) as well as physical space location limitation on the device.Besides the human factors and space limitations, positioning of themechanical switch and the optional shift key is generally arbitrary. Themechanical switch may take the form of at least one of a rotary switch,a rocker switch, a toggle switch and a tactile switch etc., while theoptional shift key can take on other forms such as a push button or aslider etc

A processing device (not shown) may be coupled to the display/inputdevice 454. The processing device may be used to calculate touches onthe touch panel and/or responding to the outputs of a mechanical switchand/or the optional shift key. The display/input device 454 can use thedetected touch (e.g., blob or blobs from a user's face) data to, forexample, identify the location of certain objects and to also identifythe type of object touching (or nearly touching) the display/inputdevice 454.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the display/input device 454occupies a large portion of one surface (e.g. the top surface) of thehousing 452 of the portable device 450. In one embodiment, thedisplay/input device 454 consumes substantially the entire front surfaceof the portable device 450. In another embodiment, the display/inputdevice 454 consumes, for example, at least 75% of a front surface of thehousing 452 of the portable device 450. In alternative embodiments, theportable device 450 may include a display which does not have inputcapabilities, but the display still occupies a large portion of onesurface of the portable device 450. In this case, the portable device450 may include other types of input devices such as a QWERTY keyboardor other types of keyboard which slide out or swing out from a portionof the portable device 450.

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate a portable device 570 according to oneembodiment of the invention. The portable device 570 may be a cellulartelephone which includes a hinge 587 that couples a display housing 589to a keypad housing 591. The hinge 587 allows a user to open and closethe cellular telephone so that it can be placed in at least one of twodifferent configurations shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B. In one particularembodiment, the hinge 587 may rotatably couple the display housing tothe keypad housing. In particular, a user can open the cellulartelephone to place it in the open configuration shown in FIG. 5A and canclose the cellular telephone to place it in the closed configurationshown in FIG. 5B. The keypad housing 591 may include a keypad 595 whichreceives inputs (e.g. telephone number inputs or other alphanumericinputs) from a user and a microphone 597 which receives voice input fromthe user. The display housing 589 may include, on its interior surface,a display 593 (e.g. an LCD) and a speaker 598 and a proximity sensor584; on its exterior surface, the display housing 589 may include aspeaker 596, a temperature sensor 594, a display 588 (e.g. another LCD),an ambient light sensor 592, and a proximity sensor 584A. Hence, in thisembodiment, the display housing 589 may include a first proximity sensoron its interior surface and a second proximity sensor on its exteriorsurface. The first proximity sensor may be used to detect a user's heador ear being within a certain distance of the first proximity sensor andto cause an illumination setting of displays 593 and 588 to be changedautomatically in response to this detecting (e.g. the illumination forboth displays are turned off or otherwise set in a reduced power state).Data from the second proximity sensor, along with data from the ambientlight sensor 592 and data from the temperature sensor 594, may be usedto detect that the cellular telephone has been placed into the user'spocket.

In one embodiment, the mechanical switch (not shown) and optional shiftkey (not shown) are located on a surface of the keypad housing 591 onone edge and on a surface of the display housing 591 on an oppositeedge. Having the mechanical switch and the optional shift key onopposite edges may allow for easier actuation of both concurrently.Other configurations such as having the mechanical switch and theoptional shift key on either display or keypad casing at 90 degreesapart or on opposite edges of the same casing etc. are possible. Thetype of mechanical switch includes, but is not limited to, a rotaryswitch, a rocker switch, a slider switch and a toggle switch or the typeof optional shift key that may include a push button or a slider etc.can be arbitrary but is often based on human factors and space availableon the device as discussed earlier.

In at least certain embodiments, the portable device 570 may containcomponents which provide one or more of the functions of a wirelesscommunication device such as a cellular telephone, a media player, anentertainment system, a PDA, or other types of devices described herein.In one implementation of an embodiment, the portable device 70 may be acellular telephone integrated with a media player which plays MP3 files,such as MP3 music files.

Each of the devices shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5A and 5B may be awireless communication device, such as a cellular telephone, and mayinclude a plurality of components which provide a capability forwireless communication. FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of a wireless device600 which includes the capability for wireless communication. Thewireless device 600 may be included in any one of the devices shown inFIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5A and 5B, although alternative embodiments of thosedevices of FIGS. 1-5B may include more or fewer components than thewireless device 600.

Wireless device 600 may include an antenna system 601. Wireless device600 may also include a digital and/or analog radio frequency (RF)transceiver 602, coupled to the antenna system 601, to transmit and/orreceive voice, digital data and/or media signals through antenna system601.

Wireless device 600 may also include a digital processing system 603 tocontrol the digital RF transceiver and to manage the voice, digital dataand/or media signals. Digital processing system 603 may be a generalpurpose processing device, such as a microprocessor or controller forexample. Digital processing system 603 may also be a special purposeprocessing device, such as an ASIC (application specific integratedcircuit), FPGA (field-programmable gate array) or DSP (digital signalprocessor). Digital processing system 603 may also include otherdevices, as are known in the art, to interface with other components ofwireless device 600. For example, digital processing system 603 mayinclude analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters to interfacewith other components of wireless device 600. Digital processing system103 may include a media processing system 609, which may also include ageneral purpose or special purpose processing device to manage media,such as files of audio data.

Wireless device 600 may also include a storage device 604, coupled tothe digital processing system, to store data and/or operating programsfor the wireless device 600. Storage device 604 may be, for example, anytype of solid-state or magnetic memory device.

Wireless device 600 may also include one or more input devices 605,coupled to the digital processing system 603, to accept user inputs(e.g., telephone numbers, names, addresses, media selections, etc.)Input device 605 may be, for example, one or more of a keypad, atouchpad, a touch screen, a pointing device in combination with adisplay device or similar input device.

Wireless device 600 may also include at least one display device 606,coupled to the digital processing system 603, to display informationsuch as messages, telephone call information, contact information,pictures, movies and/or titles or other indicators of media beingselected via the input device 605. Display device 606 may be, forexample, an LCD display device. In one embodiment, display device 606and input device 605 may be integrated together in the same device(e.g., a touch screen LCD such as a multi-touch input panel which isintegrated with a display device, such as an LCD display device).Examples of a touch input panel and a display integrated together areshown in U.S. published application No. 20060097991. The display device606 may include a backlight 606 a to illuminate the display device 106under certain circumstances. It will be appreciated that the wirelessdevice 100 may include multiple displays.

Wireless device 600 may also include a battery 607 to supply operatingpower to components of the system including digital RF transceiver 602,digital processing system 603, storage device 604, input device 605,microphone 605A, audio transducer 608, media processing system 609,sensor(s) 610, and display device 606. Battery 607 may be, for example,a rechargeable or non-rechargeable lithium or nickel metal hydridebattery.

Wireless device 600 may also include audio transducers 608, which mayinclude one or more speakers, and at least one microphone 605A.

Wireless device 600 may also include one or more sensors 610 coupled tothe digital processing system 603. The sensor(s) 610 may include, forexample, one or more of a proximity sensor, accelerometer, touch inputpanel, ambient light sensor, ambient noise sensor, temperature sensor,gyroscope, a hinge detector, a position determination device, anorientation determination device, a motion sensor, a sound sensor, aradio frequency electromagnetic wave sensor, and other types of sensorsand combinations thereof. Based on the data acquired by the sensor(s)610, various responses may be performed automatically by the digitalprocessing system, such as, for example, activating or deactivating thebacklight 106 a, changing a setting of the input device 605 (e.g.switching between processing or not processing, as an intentional userinput, any input data from an input device), and other responses andcombinations thereof.

Wireless device 600 may also include a mechanical switch 610 with orwithout an optional shift key 611. The mechanical switch is generally adigital logic switch but may also be an analog variable resistanceswitch. Examples of electronic switches may include but are not limitedto any one of a single pole single throw, a single pole double throw, adouble pole single thrown, a double pole, a double pole, a double polechangeover, a rotary, and a momentary contact etc. The output of themechanical switch acts like an interrupt request sent by a processinglogic to the microprocessor such that the microprocessor can beinstructed to execute a specific set of directions. This interruptrequest can generally be processed as long as the portable device isactivated and in stand-by but not in active operation by the user. Inthis case, the specific directions would cause the profile settings tochange or toggle from a current set to a different set. The optionalshift key is added to provide more output states to the mechanicalswitch. While the mechanical switch can provide a limited number ofoutputs based on the switch positions available, the optional shift keycan essentially at least double the set of outputs available to themechanical switch alone.

In one embodiment, digital RF transceiver 602, digital processing system603 and/or storage device 604 may include one or more integratedcircuits disposed on a printed circuit board (PCB).

The electrical aspect of mechanical switches will now be described. Inthis section, the electrical or digital changes in a circuit in responseto actuation of a mechanical switch will be discussed. FIGS. 7A-7Cillustrate examples of mechanical switches that can be implemented in aportable device in accordance with different embodiments of the presentinvention. FIG. 7A illustrates a single pole double throw (SPDT) switch700. The terms pole and throw are used to describe switch contacts as isknown in the art. In FIG. 7A the output of the circuit changes dependingon whether the pole contact 703 connects the pole 701 to either thefirst throw contact 702A or the second thrown contact 702B in forming acomplete circuit with the processing logic. In other words, themechanical actuation of the switch with two positions can have twochoices of outputs for the complete circuit, 702A or 702B. Theprocessing logic 704 may be implemented as a set of digital logic gateswhich change an internal state in the processing logic as a result of achange in the position of the pole contact 703 and which provides asignal to indicate that the pole contact 703 has changed its position.This signal may cause an interrupt to be generated and directed to aninterrupt controller. The processing logic 704 may be implemented in avariety of alternative ways (e.g., the processing logic 704 may store orshow a state and be polled periodically by the microprocessor or amicrocontroller.) The microprocessor 705 may be the main microprocessorof the system or an auxiliary microprocessor. Upon receiving the changeof outputs, the processing logic 704 will send a signal (e.g., aninterrupt request) to interrupt controller which asserts an interruptsignal to the microprocessor 705 to instruct the microprocessor toexecute a specific set of instructions. In context of the presentinvention, the microprocessor 705 may cause the software or operatingsystem of the portable device to change from one profile setting toanother.

FIG. 7B illustrates a rotary switch which is another embodiment of amechanical switch in accordance with the present invention. A rotaryswitch 720 as illustrated may have at least two or more different throwcontrols 722A-H connected by a pole contact 723 to the pole 721. Arotary switch operates similar to a SPDT switch except it has moreoutputs (multiple throw controls) than a SPDT switch. When the rotaryswitch is mechanically actuated to change from one throw control orposition to another, there may also be a change in the electricity flowfrom between one throw control to another throw control and the pole.The advantage of a otary switch is that it may provide more positions,and thus more outputs, as compared to a linear slider switch, a pushbutton switch, or a rocker switch that generally only has two positionseach. Further, a rotary switch does not require much surface area on theportable device for implementation.

In one embodiment, manual actuation of the optional shift key alone maynot cause any change in the portable device. Rather, the optional shiftkey may be manually actuated concurrently with the mechanical switch toeffect a change in the profile setting of portable device. FIG. 7Cillustrates one embodiment of the operation of an optional shift key inconjunction with a SPDT switch in accordance with the present invention.The SPDT switch and the optional shift key is connected to theprocessing logic 764 by independent circuits. The SPDT switch isrepresented by the pole 761, pole contact 763, and the two differentthrow controls 762A, B to obtain different outputs in the processinglogic 764. The optional shift key is represented by pole 771, polecontact 773, and different thrown controls 772A, B. For example, whenthe optional shift key is not activated, the pole is connected to afirst throw control 772A thus providing one voltage or current to theprocessing logic 704 giving the choice of two different outputs. Whenthe optional shift key is continuously pressed and activated, the shiftkey's pole contact 773 may switch to throw control 772B such that adifferent output is obtained in the processing logic as opposed to beingconnected to throw control 772A. When the processing logic sees this newoutput and when the mechanical switch is activated concurrently duringthe activation of the optional shift key, it may interpret the signal asthe user wanting to change to another particular profile. In the currentexample, the mechanical switch, a SPDT switch, only has two positionswhen the pole contact 773 is connected to throw contact 772A. When thepole contact 773 is connected to throw contact 772B, the mechanicalswitch, again has two positions, therefore, concurrent activation of theshift key and the mechanical switch allows the system to increase itstotal positions available for programming of user profiles to a total of4. In a different embodiment, the profiles that are activated only byactuation of the mechanical switch may contain different number offields as the profiles that are activated by the concurrent actuation ofthe shift key and the mechanical switch.

All aforementioned embodiments of switches described require manualactuation by the user of the portable device to control the changing ofthe output of the switch. It should be appreciated that all mechanicalswitches described and intended for use with the portable device eachhas a dedicated purpose. For example, each manual actuation of theswitch will single purposely cause an effect or change in a state of theportable device, for example, the user profile interface communicationsettings. In other words, the mechanical switch has a single dedicatedpurpose only and that is to change the user profile setting in theportable data processing device.

The mechanical aspects of a mechanical switch will now be described. Inthis section the different manners of mechanical actuation of a switchto cause a change in the electrical circuit will be discussed. FIGS.8A-D illustrates various embodiments of a mechanical switch inaccordance with the present invention. FIG. 8A illustrates a simplemechanical slider 801 switch with two or more positions. The slider 801in this embodiment is placed below the surface 804 of the portabledevice. Positioning below the surface 804 of the device prevents theslider 801 from being unintentionally actuated or repositioned fromhandling of the portable device. The void 803 in which the slider ispositioned may be deep enough to hide at least the height of the slider801 switch but not so deep as to prevent a user from actuating theslider with a finger. An optional shift key in the form of a push button802 is positioned on the surface 804 of the portable device. It shouldbe appreciated that the relative placement of the optional shift key andthe mechanical switch can be in a different configuration asillustrated. As described earlier, the object of the placements of theoptional shift key and the mechanical switch is based on physical spaceavailable on the available surfaces on the portable device and humanfactors that include ease of use and ease of access. In this embodiment,the push button 802 is only activated when the button is pressed down,the optional shift key is not activated when released. Other forms ofoptional shift key are also possible.

FIG. 8B illustrates another embodiment where a rotary switch 821 ispositioned on the surface 823 on one edge of a portable device beside anoptional shift key 822. The height of the rotary switch 821 rises abovethe surface 823 of the portable device for easy actuation by one finger.However, the rotary switch 821 does not have to be above the surface 823and can instead be below the surface 823 similar to the embodimentdisclosed in FIG. 8A. The rotary switch 821 has multiple rotarypositions and each position results in a unique output. The optionalshift key 822 displayed in FIG. 8B is a slider 822. The optional shiftkey 824 is activated when a user slides and holds slider 822 to aposition opposite to its normal position. When released, the springaction in the slider switch 822 will return to its normal position andthe optional shift key 824 will no longer be active. It should beappreciated that the mechanical switch and the optional shift key maynot be of the aforementioned combination. For instance, the mechanicalswitch can be a rotary switch as in FIG. 8B and a push button as in FIG.8A, or conversely a slider mechanical switch as in FIG. 8A and a slideroptional shift key as in FIG. 8B.

FIG. 8C illustrates another embodiment where a rocker switch 841 ispositioned on a surface of the edge of a portable device. An optionalshift key in the form of a push button 842 is positioned beside therocker switch. A rocker switch 841, for example, has two mechanicalpositions where each controls a different output when the rocker switch841 is pressed down on either end 863A or 863B. As in embodiments ofmechanical switches illustrated earlier, placements of the rocker switch861 in relation to the optional shift key may not be on a same surfaceof the portable device but may be arbitrary or designed based on humanfactors. Furthermore, the combination of the type of mechanical switchand the type of optional shift key can be arbitrarily determined ordesigned based on how easily the type of switch can be actuatedconcurrently with the type of optional shift key that provides maximumuser operability. Similarly, for example, the rocker switch may bepositioned below the surface 843 of the device such that accidentalactuation of the switch from handling of the device is minimized.

Programming of the mechanical switch and the optional settings providedby the optional shift key will now be described. In one embodiment, eachof the mechanical switch positions may correspond to a user profileinterface communication setting in the portable device. In other words,a user can program each switch position independently so that actuationof the mechanical switch to a certain position will result in activationof a corresponding specific profile. In one embodiment, each profile mayinclude multiple mirrored fields. This means the same fields, each beingunique from another, are found in each profile. Therefore, each profileis a mirror image because each contains the same fields as in another.Each of these fields has multiple values for the user to select andsimilarly, the values available for programming may be the same in aparticular unique field in one profile as in a second profile. However,the values appearing in the same field in different profiles can be sameor different after a user has made selections of values in those fields.

FIGS. 10A-C illustrate one embodiment of the mirrored profiles asdescribed in the previous paragraph. FIGS. 10A, 10B, 10C arerepresentations of three different profiles, Home 1000, Office 1020, andMeeting 1040 respectively. On each of the portable device display is anicon 1001, 1021 and 1041 and a name 1003, 1023 and 1043 representingeach of the three different profiles respectively. The location of theicon and name may not be at the top of the display and can bearbitrarily displayed. Nonetheless, some indication and representation,whether iconic or by alphanumeric indication on the display to describethe profile chosen or is currently active is generally desirable. Eachprofile is seen to contain the same mirrored fields 1002A-J, 1022A-J and1042A-J. Note that the same fields appear in each profile, thusrendering the profiles to be “mirrored” because of the mirrored fields.Note also that each field within a profile is unique and different fromanother. However, it should be noted that the values 1004, 1024 and 1044are not necessarily mirrored from one profile to another. In otherwords, the value selected by a user in a particular field is likely tobe different in different profiles. Therefore, although the values fromwhich a user can select in each field are the same, the value in aparticular field across different profiles can be same or different.Furthermore, one should be aware that the fields in the profile maycontain various aspects of a user interface setting. For example,iCalendar set up may be programmed to display different calendars underdifferent profiles (e.g., home/personal calendar and office calendar).Similarly, the display brightness and touchpad sensitivity may alsooptionally be a part of the user profile. Other common fields that maybe found in the user profile are ringer volume, vibration pattern,ringer tone, email notification and voice mail alert, as show infeatures 1002 A-J, 1022 A-J and 1042 A-J.

In another embodiment not shown, each mechanical switch positionrepresents a unique profile, but the profiles for each mechanicalposition may not be mirrored or contain mirroring fields. Thisembodiment allows a user to select fields for each profile. While thesame number of fields is available for selection in each profile, allthe profiles may not include the same fields. For instance, assumingthat the fields including, but not limited to, ringer volume, vibrationpattern, ringer tone, SMS notification, SMS setup, Email notification,iCalendar setup, display brightness, touch pad sensitivity, font sizeand type, power savings settings, background image, and voice mail (VM)alert are the fields present for user customization in a profile, theuser may only select ringer volume and ringer tone and choose a valuefor each of the two fields without choosing any of the other fields. Inthis instance, there will only be two fields in this profile. Since theother fields are not selected nor chosen, the values in those fieldswill be defaulted to either a pre-determined value or setting by themanufacturer or to a default value programmed by the user.

In yet another embodiment, an optional shift key in combination with amechanical switch is used to increase the number of profile settingsavailable to the user for programming. For example, if a mechanicalswitch has two positions, the user is limited to selecting andprogramming two profiles. With an optional shift key in one embodiment,a user's choice of profiles has doubled and increased to four because ofthe use of the optional shift key. In one embodiment, the optional shiftkey will allow a user to switch preferences within a profile.Furthermore, the profiles activated only by the use of a mechanicalswitch may have mirroring fields relative to each other, but differ fromthe fields that are activated only with the concurrent actuation of theshift key and the mechanical switch. The fields in the profilesactivated only by the concurrent actuation of the shift key and themechanical switch may mirror each other. In still another embodiment,all profiles may have mirroring fields or all profiles may havedifferent number of fields regardless of where how the profile isactivated.

FIGS. 9A-G illustrate one embodiment in which a user profile may beprogrammed in accordance with the present invention. FIGS. 9A-D showconsecutive screen shots of a display of the portable device when a usercustomizes or programs settings in a user profile. FIG. 9A shows a mainmenu 901 of the portable device in a list view. The main menu 901contains a title 902 on the top of the display and multiple differentsubmenus 903-909 that allow the user to activate various applications ofthe portable device below the title. For example, a user can scroll downand select games 907 where the user can choose a game to play. In thiscase, the application to program user profile settings, User Profile 905is selected.

FIG. 9B illustrates the User Profile sub menu 921 with a title 922 namedUser Profile on top of the display and a list of profiles 923-925 belowthe title. The user can generate a limited number of different profilesdetermined by the maximum positions of a mechanical switch. This viewlists 6 profiles, which in one embodiment may be represented by 6different positions in a rotary switch. Profiles 1-5 923-927 have beenprogrammed while profile 6 928 is empty. Other methods of displayingprofiles may be employed. For example, the profiles may not be numbered,but instead be represented by icons. In the present instance, Profile 3,Meeting 925 is selected.

FIG. 9C shows a different embodiment of the User Profile and mechanicalswitch in accordance with the present invention. Similar to FIG. 9B, theUser Profile has a sub menu and a title. However in this embodiment, auser may create and edit more user profiles than the number mechanicalpositions available. For example, in this embodiment, there are a totalof eleven user profiles, listed as 930-940 when only 6 mechanical switchpositions are available. In other words, it would be possible to have aUser Profiles screen that does not contain profile numbers thatcorrespond to the positions, but instead is simply a list of profiles(unbounded in length, or at least the length could be greater than thenumber of switch positions available.) Either a selection within eachuser profile may allow the assignment of a unique switch position tothat profile, or, another screen may be used to actually assign profilesto the positions on the switch. In essence, a user may be able to createand edit multiple profiles and may freely choose to assign a unique userprofile to each mechanical switch position. A user thus has theflexibility to create any number of user profiles containing anycombination of user interface features as the user wishes. The user mayfreely select and assign any user profile to any mechanical position atany time.

FIGS. 9D and 9E show two embodiments of assigning user profiles toswitch positions in accordance with the present invention. FIG. 9Dillustrates the assignment of a unique user profile to each mechanicalswitch position. For instance, in positions 1-6 corresponding tofeatures 941-946, each mechanical position is uniquely matched to aparticular user profile. No one user profile is assigned to more thanone switch position. FIG. 9E on the other hand, illustrates a differentembodiment where the assignment of user profiles to mechanical positionsmay be arbitrarily determined. For example, in positions 1-3 thatcorrespond to features 951-953, the first three mechanical switchpositions are all assigned to the same user profile “home”, whereas, thelast three mechanical switch positions 954-956 are all assigned to thesame user profile “office”. In contrast to FIG. 9D, this embodimentallows the flexibility for the user to freely assign any user profile toany mechanical position in a mechanical switch, where the same userprofile may be assigned more than once and to different mechanicalpositions.

FIG. 9F shows the list of fields available in the profile and/or areselected in a profile. The title 962 is listed on the top of the displaywith a list of fields contained within the profile listed below. In theillustration, each of the fields 963-969 is different and the individualvalues that correspond to the different fields collectively represent aunique user profile. In an embodiment of mirrored profiles, the samefields and number of fields may be the same between different profiles.In a different embodiment where the profiles are not mirrored, thefields and number of fields in each of the profiles may differ acrossprofiles. In this view, the values 971-977 selected by the usercorresponding to the fields are listed to the right of the fields963-969. The field or setting of SMS notification 969 is selected whichcan then be modified.

FIG. 9G shows the list of values available for a user to select in thefield of SMS notification. The title 982 of SMS notification is on thetop of the display with all the available values to be selected for thisfield. The user can then scroll down the list and select a value for thesetting or field. For example, the field “vibration” 983 is selected.Upon selection of the value, the menu automatically reverts to theprevious level, in this case, the list of fields in the profile orpreference selected. When a user has finished editing of fields in aparticular profile, the user may return to the User Profile menu 921 asshown in FIG. 9B and select another profile to edit or change. When auser has completely finished editing and making profile selections as inFIG. 9B, the user can back up to the main menu 901 FIG. 9A or exit themain menu entirely.

The user profiles as referenced in previous embodiments and descriptionsinclude at least interface communications settings of the portabledevice. While some of the most common communication features thatinclude, but are not limited to, ringer type, ringer volume, vibrationpattern, email notification, SMS/text messaging notification, calendaralert, etc., other interface controls may be part of the user profile.Interface controls may include, but not limited to, the homepage of theweb-browser, display brightness, calendar type, display brightness,touch pad sensitivity, background image of the display that may include,but are not limited to, colors, images, font size/type, icons, positionsof icons etc. Programming of these interfaces allows a user to customizethe portable device entirely to the user's preference and may present anopportunity for a user to distinguish his portable device from anotheruser's device which may physically or in exterior appears the same. Inone embodiment, a user may choose to play a short segment of a video oraudio clip each time the phone is activated. Another example is a user'spreference of how icons are displayed and which icons are displayed.Furthermore, a user may choose to have menus displayed as lists ratherthan iconic representations. Still, the user may choose to havedifferent audio, tactile or visual alerts to be associated withswitching into or activation of various profiles. Though user profilesmay include common features such as typical communication alerts, theobject of user profiles is to provide a user the capability to perform acomplete customization of the user interface environment.

After the user profile has been changed in response to the manualactuation of a mechanical switch or a mechanical switch and an optionalshift key, there may be an indication to the user which user profile isactive or in use. FIGS. 11A-C illustrate the displays of portabledevices with icons to represent different user profiles that are activeor in use. FIGS. 11A-C illustrate three different icons, 1101A, 1101Band 1101C, representing a user profile for home, office, and meetingrespectively. Generally when a portable date processing device, forexample, a cell phone, is in operation, there is a display 1111 showingat least the time 1107, the level of battery power 1106, and thestrength of the cellular signal 1105. Sometimes, in a sufficiently largedisplay, even the menu of applications (not shown) and/or the calendardate 1108 may also be visible. FIGS. 11A, 11B and 11C differ from eachother in that they each represent a different user profile. The userprofile may have mirrored fields (as described above), or they may eachhave a different number of fields, as described earlier in thisspecification. The icon is shown to be on the top row of the display,but the placement of the icon can vary arbitrarily and may be displayedin any location on the screen as long as it is visible to the user. Inone embodiment when an optional shift key is available, the iconsindicating a visual alert and/or other audio and/or tactile alertsassociated with the changing into or activation of the profiles only byconcurrent activation of the shift key and the mechanical switch, may bedifferent than those profiles activated only by the mechanical switchalone. There may be a numeric indication in addition to the originalicon for the profile or the icon can be entirely different, the form ofpresentation may vary but some visual distinction may be used to notifya user of the different preference and/or different profiles that isselected.

As described earlier, besides a visual indication of the user profilewith the aid of an icon, an audio or tactile alert may also be used.When a user is operating a vehicle or when the portable device is in theuser's pocket, or when visualizing the display is inconvenient orimpossible, a sound or tactile response would be beneficial to indicatea change in profile or preference or preference. In one embodiment eachprofile or preference is associated with a unique sound, tune, or audioclip etc. that is played whenever the profile or preference isactivated. In another embodiment, each profile or preference isassociated with a unique vibration pattern so the portable devicevibrates when the profile or preference is activated. In still anotherembodiment, both the sound and the vibration that are unique to aprofile or preference are used to alert the user whenever the profile orpreference is activated. In one embodiment, the sound and/or vibrationpattern is predetermined in the portable device, but in anotherembodiment, both the sound and/or the vibration pattern can be freelyprogrammed to associate with the profile or preference by the user.

FIG. 12 illustrates a method of programming and customizing profiles orpreferences in a portable data processing device in accordance with thepresent invention. Flowchart 1200 shows a method of a portable dataprocessing device receiving instructions to program or to customize aprofile and/or a preference in a portable data processing device.Operation 1201 shows the portable data processing device receiving aselection to add or edit a user profile through a user interface such asa menu through either a listing view or an iconic selection. Theportable data processing device receives instructions to edit anexisting profile or add a profile, provided the maximum number ofprofiles is not exceeded. Operation 1203 shows the portable dataprocessing device receiving a value or preference selection for aparticular field within the profile selected. Note that at this stage,if the profiles are mirrored, the fields and number of fields aredefined and fixed within each profile. However, if the profiles are notmirrored, then the portable data processing device may receive additionsor selections of fields up to the maximum allowable fields for eachprofile. Operation 1204 shows that the portable data processing devicesaves all the values or preferences that are entered and selected by auser for the fields selected in the profile. Operation 1206 shows theportable data processing device receiving instructions either to exitthe current profile or to select a different profile for furthercustomization. If the command to exit is received, the portable dataprocessing device may save the fields for the current profile and exitthe edit mode for profiles and return to the main menu mode or toregular operation mode as shown in operation 1207. If instruction isreceived to edit another profile, the portable data processing devicemay save and update all the fields for the current profile, and allowselection of another profile by returning to operation 1201.

FIG. 13 shows a flow chart 1300 indicating the sequence of events thattake place from operating the mechanical switch and optional shift keyin a portable data processing device in accordance with the presentinvention. Operation 1301 shows the manual actuation of a mechanicalswitch. At the same time, if the optional shift key is also available,the processing logic will also check if the optional shift key isconcurrently activated. In receiving this user input, the processinglogic within the portable data processing device activates the profileand/or preference selection mode as in operation 1302 in response to theactuation of the mechanical switch and/or the concurrent activation ofthe mechanical switch and the shift key. Operation 1204 shows thechanging or switching of profiles by the microprocessor in response tothe output of the processing logic resulting from the manual actuationof the mechanical switch with or without concurrent actuation of theoptional shift key. If the optional shift key is available, theprocessing logic will determine whether the profiles exclusivelyavailable to the concurrent actuation of the mechanical switch and theoptional shift key are to be activated, based on whether the optionalshift key and mechanical switch are simultaneously activated. If theoptional shift key is concurrently activated, the processing logic mayonly switch among the exclusive profiles. However, if the optional shiftkey is not concurrently activated, the processing logic may switch amongprofiles which are exclusively activated by actuation of the mechanicalswitch only. If the optional shift key is available and only theoptional key is actuated without the mechanical switch being activated,there will be no response by the processing logic. In a differentembodiment, if there is no optional shift key present, each manualactuation of the mechanical switch (collective operations of 1201 and1202) may simply result in a change in profile as in operation 1204,with the maximum number of profiles corresponding to a maximum number ofswitch positions.

FIG. 14 shows another example of a device according to an embodiment ofthe inventions. This device may include a processor, such asmicroprocessor 1402, and a memory 1404, which are coupled to each otherthrough a bus 1406. The device 1400 may optionally include a cache 1408which is coupled to the microprocessor 1402. This device may alsooptionally include a display controller and display device 1410 which iscoupled to the other components through the bus 1406. One or moreinput/output controllers 1412 are also coupled to the bus 1406 toprovide an interface for input/output devices 1414 and to provide aninterface for one or more sensors 1416 which are for sensing useractivity. The bus 1406 may include one or more buses connected to eachother through various bridges, controllers, and/or adapters as is wellknown in the art. The input/output devices 1414 may include a keypad orkeyboard or a cursor control device such as a touch input panel.Furthermore, the input/output devices 1414 may include a networkinterface which is either for a wired network or a wireless network(e.g. an RF transceiver). The mechanical switch 1416 and the optionalshift button 1415 are connected to a processing logic through the I/Ocontrollers 1412 before reaching the microprocessors. The sensors 1417may be any one of the sensors described herein including, for example, aproximity sensor or an ambient light sensor. In at least certainimplementations of the device 1400, the microprocessor 1402 may receivedata from one or more sensors 1417 and may perform the analysis of thatdata in the manner described herein. For example, the data may beanalyzed through an artificial intelligence process or in the other waysdescribed herein. As a result of that analysis, the microprocessor 1402may then automatically cause an adjustment in one or more settings ofthe device.

In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described withreference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will be evidentthat various modifications may be made thereto without departing fromthe broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in thefollowing claims. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to beregarded in an illustrative sense rather than a restrictive sense.

1. A portable data processing device comprising: a display; an inputdevice; a switch having a plurality of separate and independent switchpositions which comprise a first switch position and a second switchposition, the switch being configured to switch among a plurality ofuser interface profile settings which comprise a first profile settingand a second profile setting; and at least one processor coupled to theinput device and to the display and coupled to the switch to receive anoutput from the switch, the processor being configured to assign eachone of a subset of the plurality of user interface profile settings to acorresponding one of the plurality of separate and independent switchpositions of the switch such that the processor is configured to assignthe first profile setting to the first switch position and is configuredto assign the second profile setting to the second switch position ofthe plurality of separate and independent switch positions, and theprocessor is configured to determine and select, based on the output ofthe switch, one set of values from the plurality of user interfaceprofile settings, wherein a quantity of the plurality of user interfaceprofile settings is more than a quantity of the plurality of separateand independent switch positions of the switch, wherein the assignedprofile settings of the plurality of user interface profile settings areless than the quantity of the plurality of user interface profilesettings such that the assigned profile settings are subset of thequantity of plurality of user interface profile settings, wherein theswitch is configured to receive a user's finger to select one of theplurality of separate and independent switch positions, and when theuser's finger contacts the switch, the switch positions of the switchchange from one of the plurality of separate and independent switchpositions to another of the plurality of separate and independent switchpositions.
 2. The portable data processing device as in claim 1 whereinthe plurality of user interface profile settings each contains mirroringfields.
 3. The portable data processing device as in claim 1 furthercomprising: a radiofrequency (RF) transceiver coupled to the processor;and wherein the processor is configured to determine whether a user iscommunicating with another device through the RF transceiver.
 4. Theportable data processing device as in claim 3 wherein the input deviceis at least one of a keypad with discrete keys having an electricalswitch for each discrete key representing at least one alphanumericcharacter and (b) a touch input panel having a selected area on thetouch input panel for each key representing at least one alphanumericcharacter.
 5. The portable data processing device as in claim 4 furthercomprising: a speaker coupled to the RF transceiver; a microphonecoupled to the RF transceiver; a storage device coupled to theprocessor, the storage device being configured to store media forplayback on the portable data processing device.
 6. The portable dataprocessing device as in claim 1 wherein the display occupies at least 75percent of a surface of a housing of the portable device.
 7. Theportable data processing device as in claim 6 wherein the input devicecomprises a touch input panel having a selected area on the touch inputpanel for each key representing at least one alphanumeric character andwherein the touch input panel is integrated with the display.
 8. Theportable data processing device as in claim 7 wherein the portable dataprocessing device comprises a mobile telephone and wherein the media forplayback comprises at least one of audio or video or audio and videocombined.
 9. The portable data processing device as in claim 1 whereinthe input device comprises a multi-touch input panel which is integratedwith the display and which is capable of determining multiple, separateconcurrent touches on the multi-touch input panel and wherein themulti-touch input panel provides touch data derived from one or moretouches to the multi-touch input panel.
 10. The portable data processdevice as in claim 1 wherein the user interface profile settings furthercomprising at least one of background wallpaper settings, displaybrightness settings, communication settings, media settings and acombination of any of the aforementioned settings.
 11. The portable dataprocessing device as in claim 1 wherein an activation of the switchleads to at least one of an audio or tactile or a visual responseconfirming the activation of the switch.
 12. A machine readable storagemedium storing executable program instructions which when executed by aportable data processing device cause the portable data processingdevice to perform a method comprising: assigning each one of a subset ofa plurality of user interface profile settings of a portable dataprocessing device, comprising a first profile setting and a secondprofile setting, to a corresponding one of a plurality of separate andindependent switch positions of a switch comprising a first switchposition and a second switch position such that the first profilesetting is assigned to the first switch position and the second profilesetting is assigned to the second switch position of the plurality ofseparate and independent switch positions, wherein a quantity of theplurality of user interface profile settings is more than a quantity ofthe plurality of separate and independent switch positions of theswitch, wherein the assigned profile settings of the plurality of userinterface profile settings are less than the quantity of the pluralityuser interface profile settings such that the assigned profile settingsare a subset of the quantity of the plurality of user interface profilesettings, wherein the switch is configured to receive a user's finger toselect one of the plurality of separate and independent switchpositions, and when the user's finger contacts the switch, the switchpositions of the switch change from one of the plurality of separate andindependent switch positions to another of the plurality of separate andindependent switch positions; receiving an actuation of the switch toswitch among the plurality of user interface profile settings; receivingan electrical output corresponding to the actuation of the switch; andsetting parameters in accordance with a selected user interface profilesetting of the portable data processing device.
 13. The machine readablemedium as in claim 12 wherein the plurality of user interface profilesettings each contains mirroring fields.
 14. The machine readable mediumas in claim 12 further comprising executable program instructions whichwhen executed cause the portable data processing device to perform:receiving an actuation of a shift button on the portable processingdevice simultaneous to the actuation of the dedicated mechanical switch;and receiving a different electrical output from the simultaneousactuations of both the shift button and the mechanical switch comparedto the actuation of the mechanical switch alone at each of the pluralityof separate and independent switch positions.
 15. The machine readablemedium as in claim 12 wherein the portable data processing devicefurther comprises: a display; an input device; and at least oneprocessor coupled to the input device and to the display and coupled tothe switch to receive an output from the switch.
 16. The machinereadable medium as in claim 15 wherein the input device is at least oneof a keypad with discrete keys having an electrical switch for eachdiscrete key representing at least one alphanumeric character and (b) atouch input panel having a selected area on the touch input panel foreach key representing at least one alphanumeric character.
 17. Themachine readable medium as in claim 15 wherein the portable dataprocessing device further comprises: a speaker coupled to a RFtransceiver; a microphone coupled to the RF transceiver; a storagedevice coupled to the processor, the storage device being configured tostore media for playback on the portable data processing device.
 18. Themachine readable medium as in claim 17 wherein the input devicecomprises a touch input panel having a selected area on the touch inputpanel for each key representing at least one alphanumeric character andwherein the touch input panel is integrated with the display and whereinthe portable telephone device does not include a hinge.
 19. The machinereadable medium as in claim 12 wherein the user interface profilesettings further comprise at least one of background wallpaper settings,display brightness settings, communication settings, media settings anda combination of any of the aforementioned settings.
 20. A portable dataprocessing device comprising: a multi-touch input panel configured todetermine multiple, separate concurrent touches on the multi-touch inputpanel; a display device integrated with the multi-touch input panel; aswitch having a plurality of separate and independent switch positionswhich comprise a first switch position and a second switch position, theswitch being configured to switch among a plurality of user interfaceprofile settings which comprise a first profile setting and a secondprofile setting; and at least one processor coupled to the multi-touchinput panel and coupled to the switch to receive an output from theswitch, the processor being configured to assign each one of a subset ofthe plurality of user interface profile settings to a corresponding oneof the plurality of separate and independent switch positions of theswitch such that the processor is configured to assign the first profilesetting to the first switch position and is configured to assign thesecond profile setting to the second switch position of the plurality ofseparate and independent switch positions, and the processor isconfigured to determine and select, based on the output of the switch, aset of values from one of the plurality of user interface profilesettings, wherein a quantity of the plurality of user interface profilesettings is more than a quantity of the plurality of separate andindependent switch positions of the switch, wherein the assigned profilesettings of the plurality of user interface profile settings are lessthan the quantity of the plurality of user interface profile settingssuch that the assigned profile settings are a subset of the quantity ofthe plurality of user interface profile settings, wherein the switch isconfigured to receive a user's finger to select one of the plurality ofseparate and independent switch positions, and when the user's fingercontacts the switch, the switch positions of the switch change from oneof the plurality of separate and independent switch positions to anotherof the plurality of separate and independent switch positions.
 21. Theportable data processing device as in claim 20 wherein the plurality ofuser interface profile settings each contains mirroring fields.
 22. Theportable data processing device as in claim 21 further comprising: aspeaker coupled to a RF transceiver; a microphone coupled to the RFtransceiver; a storage device coupled to the processor, the storagedevice being configured store media for playback on the portable dataprocessing device.
 23. The portable data process device as in claim 20wherein the user interface profile settings further comprise at leastone of background wallpaper settings, display brightness settings,communication settings, media settings and a combination of any of theaforementioned settings.
 24. The portable data process device as inclaim 20 wherein the activation of the switch leads to at least one ofan audio or tactile or a visual response confirming the activation ofthe switch.